In the book Unsafe in the Ivory Tower; the Sexual Victimization of College Women, it is discussed how establishing one dedicated prevention method for sexual assault on college campuses may be difficult. This is due to not having accurate statistics on sexual assaults and also the assaults occurring behind closed doors with offenders being known to the victims. Establishing policy, awareness, and prevention programs may look good on paper and ease a parent’s mind about their kids going to college. However, these programs may be ignored or do not reach men who statistically are the violators. In the book the Unsafe in the Ivory Tower, the author states: “College life is an important social domain that provides lifelong experiences and memories for millions of students each year. As these results show, part of this experience involves college women experiencing forcible rape and/or alcohol-or-drug-induced rape” (Fisher, Daigle, & Cullen, 2010, p. 83). …show more content…
I read this and thought, has our society created rape in college as almost a norm?
Look at the media and movies about college life. Most stem around getting drunk and having sex. This norm or perception about women going to college to be raped needs to be eliminated. Obviously there need to be programs, punishments, and awareness training to help eliminate the sexual assault on college campuses. However, campuses also need to get the college community involved to make sexual assault less of a norm and more of what it is; unacceptable! According to the book Unsafe in the Ivory Tower, the situational crime prevention model is a promising way of deterring sexual assaults. The situational crime prevention model is a way to make campuses less appealing for sexual offenders. This could be by establishing community partnerships, implementing the buddy system when going out to parties and encouraging and educating students to report or give guidance to friends that disclose that they have been sexually
assaulted. Finding information on preventing sexual assault on the WSU website was a chore. If I had not been given the link that is in the FAQ section, it would have been difficult to locate the prevention portion on the website. Once I found the prevention section, I was a little disappointed. It listed several preventive tips that would agree with what I stated above, like going to parties with trusted friends. However, this was listed in a few bullet points without attatched links or what to do if you are a victim. I expanded my search for preventing sexual assault on the WSU website and located a resource guide that was developed in 2009. https://women.wsu.edu/media/250421/Sexual%20Assault%20Resource-Final.pdf . That guide provided a lot of resources on prevention and victim assistance. I lived in San Antonio for four years, and my wife attended the University of Texas San Antonio (UTSA). I went to the UTSA website, http://www.utsa.edu/ and typed in preventing sexual assault. It immediately sent me to the campus police section and provided me with a brochure on alcohol and sexual assault. The first paragraph on the brochure stated the following: “Anyone can become a victim of sexual assault. When it does occur, it is never the victim’s fault, regardless of the circumstances. As a community, we can protect ourselves with awareness and information” (http://www.utsa.edu/). If I was a victim of sexual assault, reading that paragraph would reassure me that I did nothing wrong, and anyone could be a victim. I would not feel alone and seek out help. I also like that they are encouraging the community to protect each other from sexual assault. The brochure had a lot of helpful tips that support the situational crime prevention model. The UTSA website also listed the preventing sexual assault link under the information for student section. Both college websites provide information on sexual assault prevention that focus on making the campuses safe and unappealing for the offenders; that will help to eliminate the norm of college sexual assaults. I am going to have to say that I like the UTSA website better than the WSU website. The UTSA prevention information was easier to locate and seemed to be more caring for victims.
In "Fraternities and Collegiate Rape Culture" Ayres Boswell and Joan Z. Spade analyze the social perspective of the gendered relations in male fraternities that add to the high rate of violence against women on many college campuses. They list a host of factors that distinguish higher-risk from lower-risk atmospheres discussing the rates of rape in colleges and state how "1 out of 4 college women say they were raped or experienced an attempted rape" (217). Additionally, "1 out of 12 college men say they forced a woman to have sexual intercourse against her will" (Boswell, Spade 217). In other words Boswell and Spade indicated that the rates were high when it came down to women getting raped in colleges by men who also attended those colleges. In addition, Boswell and Spade specify in how most people are aware of rape but know very little about rape culture (Boswell, Spade 217).
With one in five college students experiencing sexual assault during their college career who wouldn’t be afraid? This remains especially true for young women between the ages of 18-24 (“The Realities of Sexual Assault”). While a woman’s freshman and sophomore year of college are when she is at a most risk for assault, it can happen at any time. According to Robin Gray in the article on sexual assault statistics, “between 20% and 25% of women will experience a completed and/or attempted rape during their college career,” (Gray). At Northwest Missouri State University for the 2016-2017 academic year there are 5,618 undergraduate students enrolled. With the ratio of male to female students being 44% to 56%, there are about 3,147 female students. In terms of the statistics estimated by Gray, 630-787 of the female student population at Northwest Missouri State will experience rape during their college career (“Northwest Missouri State University”). This is a disturbingly large figure. Women are not the only ones susceptible to these acts, but men are too. It is said about “10%” of all sexual assault cases involve male victims (“The Realities of Sexual Assault”). While this number is slightly lower for men it is often believed that male victims of sexual assault do not often report their crime due to the social stigma surrounding their assault. Men may feel
In what is sure to be a very solemn matter for all American students and their families across the country , in January 2013 , President Obama, the office of the Vice President and the White House Council on Women and Girls converged and issued a renewed call to action against rape and sexual assault report which analyzes the most recent reliable data about this issue and identifies who are the most in peril victims of this malefaction, investigates the costs of this violence both for victims and communities , and describes the replication very often inadequate of the US malefactor equity system.
In an article written by John Alan Fox, Fox makes the broad claim that sexual assault is in an era of, “...Hype and hysteria--far out of proportion with the actual risk…” and “The often - repeated yet exaggerated claim that one in five college females are sexually assaulted during their undergraduate years…” (Fox, para 1&2 ). The claims of sexual assault have become more constant in the past years, yes the claims are repeated, but in no way are most claims of sexual assault “exaggerated”. It truthfully takes the victim a while to even talk to a friend about their assault let alone report it, “When students nationwide were asked why they did not report incidents of sexual misconduct...because they were ‘embarrassed, ashamed or that it would be too emotionally difficult’...” (Campus Sexual Assault Survey Details Prevalence at UT Austin and 26 Other US Universities, para 16). The claim of the “one in five college females” is an often repeated claim that many see in sexual assault campaigns and is most common among college women, but, “Sexual violence happens to people of all ages, races, genders, sexual orientations, religions, abilities, professions, incomes and ethnicities” (Info and Stats on Sexual Assault, pg 9). In fact, “The rates of sexual assault and misconduct are highest among undergraduate women and transgender, gender queer
Imagine you have just arrived at your dream college and suddenly your life is ruined from a crime sexual assault, and the suffering mental and physical pain that follows from it. In the documentary, The Hunting Ground, director Kirby Dick portrays how rape is more frequently common in college campuses than what people really think, and how it effects the victim’s emotionally. Students that just get to college don’t realize the negative events that could happen the them. College is supposed to be the best time of people’s lives, but bad things can happen, and students, especially women, should come more prepared. Both men and women are being sexual assaulted daily, and it’s something that need to be fixed.
Sexual Assault on campus has become an epidemic, for many different reasons but one major factor that contributes is when a sexual assault occurs on a University and nothing is done. By allowing the perpetrator to get away with his or her crime your “Okaying” them and in a way giving approval which can lead
According to U.S News the problem with “sexual assaults on campus is not something that is consigned to a region or type of school, but is a ubiquitous reality on campuses of all shapes and sizes across America. All schools are required to designate an employee as their Title IX coordinator to help oversee the schools compliance with the law” (Jarrett). Colleges are responsible for keeping the students on their campus safe. The college has a legal obligation to keep the students safe. The student is going to school there, and the college needs to be responsible for the sexual assaults that happen on college campuses. According to The White House Task Force to protect Students from Sexual Assault “urges schools to show how serious they are about sexual assaults, the task force recommends that schools examine the prevalence and incidence of sexual assaults on campus, and to assess student’s perceptions of a university’s response to sexual assault” (Share, Rachel, and Scott Coffina). Colleges have an obligation to prevent the sexual assaults that happen on their campuses. It is on the college to examine the sexual assaults that happen on their campus, but it is the college’s responsibility to do something about the sexual assaults. Colleges are responsible for protecting students on college campuses from sexual
Every semester, a student attending a college campus will have at some point experience some inappropriate, unwanted attention. There is always someone at school who tends to make someone uncomfortable, be it through eye contact, persistent advances, or just uncalled for innuendos. Of course, we do our best to ignore it, or to just report the bothersome activity, but that can only do so much without someone finding a way around such things. Someone is always going the extra mile to get what he or she wants, even if it’s at the expense of the victim. We can’t turn a blind eye on our friends, our family, or our associates in these dark, sexual assault situation. Campus sexual assault is a problem with plenty of factors regarding it.
With staggering numbers of sexual assaults reported every year, schools are facing greater pressure to improve criminal proceedings in the face of campus crime.
Rothman, E., & Silverman, J. (2007). The effect of a college sexual assault prevention program on first-year students’ victimization rates. Journal of American College Health, 55(5), 283–290.
According to a statement addressing the sexual victimization of college women The Crime and Victimization in America states that, “ One out of four women will be sexually assaulted on a college campus.” This disturbing fact has not minimized throughout the years, instead it is continuing to worsen throughout college campuses. Sexual assault is not an act to be taken lightly. Society must stop pinpointing the individuals who commit these crimes one by one, but rather look at the problem as a whole and begin to understand the main cause of sexual assault and possible methods to reduce these acts of sexual coercion.
In Daniel Luzer’s article “Is Alcohol Really to Blame for the Prevalence of Sexual Assault of college Campuses?” published in Pacific Standard, Luzer supports the claim that alcohol has little to do with sexual assault in college. The number of sexual assaults in colleges have been on the rise, but the amount of alcohol consumed by university students has changed a small amount. There have been arguments stating that women should drink less, and others insisting that men should reduce their consumption to prevent the attackers from attacking. However, teaching people, men and women, not to rape, is the most obvious choice. Alcohol cannot be blamed for everything because a survey showed that the percentage of college-aged students that were
Rape and rape culture are very real and present problems with our post-secondary system. Not a day goes by without a new revelation, number or statistic coming to light. Not a day goes by without feminists screaming to “take back the night” and men’s rights advocates crying for sex. There probably isn’t a person in existence who doesn’t have an opinion on the issue. There is so much focus on it, millions of dollars going into solving it. So, now there is a question we must ask ourselves - why is none of it working? Why are rape numbers increasing, instead of the other way around? Rape numbers are not decreasing because no one wants to address the root causes of the issue. Universities and colleges don 't want to crack down on alcohol abuse
Many people think that because a college has low sexual assault and rape incidents reported that it makes it a safer school. This is the opposite of the problem. Only 12% of rapes and sexual assaults are reported the law enforcement when 1 in every 4 college women are sexually assaulted. This study was done to more than 3,000 women and 2,000 men on 32 college campuses. That leaves an excessive amount of assaults gone unreported. 19% of U.S undergraduate women are victims of sexual assaulted leaving them as the main target. 80% of all these sexual assaults are done by people the victims are already previously acquainted with. This statistic
First Lady, Michelle Obama, has spoken out several times against schools that aren’t properly protecting their students. In addition, there are organizations like End Rape on Campus who work with activists to hold colleges accountable for their negligence. However, all of this is not enough. In my opinion, women should be free to attend any college or university in the country without having to take into consideration their safety. Therefore, federal law that blankets all schools are the only way to start making a real impact. Thankfully, a bill has just been introduced in the Senate. This bill, The Bipartisan Campus Accountability and Safety Act, will serve to set the standard for what every university is required to do. More specifically, it includes new resources and specialized advisors for victims, minimum training for all staff for responding to these crimes, transparency when it comes to identifying the issues, coordinating with law enforcement and not allowing subgroups to discipline, and stiffer penalties for schools who don’t follow the new guidelines. This is a wonderful bill that is a step in the right direction toward prosecuting rapists and protecting